Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Stories from Meilan Solly

Installation view of "Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock and Roll"

From Buddy Holly to Lady Gaga, the Met’s New ‘Play It Loud’ Exhibit Features the Instruments of Rock and Roll Greats

The show includes more than 130 guitars, drum kits and keyboards, as well as vintage costumes, posters and concert footage

Researchers analyzed blood samples taken from 43 great white sharks captured and released off of the South African coast in 2012

Great White Sharks Thrive Despite Heavy Metals Coursing Through Their Veins

The apex predators likely absorb these toxins by eating fish lower down on the food chain

Skrillex's Grammy-winning “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” could help researchers discourage the spread of mosquito-borne diseases

Playing Skrillex May Help Ward Off Mosquito Bites

The EDM artist’s mix of very high and low frequency beats discourages the insects from biting victims, having sex

Researcher Jack Ashby initially suspected a crow was responsible for the toad's skinning, but after examining the photo, he concluded that an otter was the more likely culprit

Why Otters Disembowel Toads Before Eating Them

The unfortunate amphibian likely fell victim to an otter, which skinned it to avoid ingesting the deadly toxins found in its glands

The royal document was signed by nine witnesses

819-Year-Old Royal Charter Issued by King John Found in University Archives

A visiting historian happened upon the medieval document while conducting research in Durham, England

The Toad mountain harlequin frog is one of more than 500 species endangered by the fungal outbreak

World’s Deadliest Pathogen On Record Devastates More Than 500 Amphibian Species—and We Don’t Know How To Stop It

The powerful fungus essentially ‘eats’ its victim’s skin alive, weakening the system before triggering cardiac arrest

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts hired art therapist Stephen Legari in 2017

Quebec’s Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Sets Example in Arts-Based Wellness

The social prescribing movement involves the treatment of a wide range of ailments with therapeutic art- or hobby-based activities

Mini mum fits comfortably on a human's thumbnail

Meet ‘Mini mum,’ ‘Mini scule’ and ‘Mini ature,’ Three New Frog Species Among the World’s Smallest

The newly discovered amphibians are all about the size of a thumbnail or smaller

Edouard Manet, "Laure," also known as "Olympia," 1863

Musée d’Orsay Renames Manet’s ‘Olympia’ and Other Works in Honor of Their Little-Known Black Models

Marie-Guillemine Benoist’s “Portrait of Madeleine,” previously titled “Portrait of a Black Woman,” hangs alongside Manet’s newly christened “Laure”

Scotty’s skeleton is scheduled to go on view at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in May 2019

Meet Scotty, the Largest and Longest-Lived T. Rex Ever Found

The dinosaur weighed an estimated 19,555 pounds and likely lived into its early 30s

Immature (red) and mature (blue) neurons in the hippocampus of a 68 year-old

The Brain May Actually Keep Generating New Cells Well Into Old Age

An analysis of 58 brain samples found that neurogenesis declines over time and is particularly poor among those with Alzheimer’s

Beyoncé and Jay-Z filmed their "Apeshit" music video at the Louvre, further publicizing the already iconic museum

These Were 2018’s Most Popular Art Exhibitions and Museums

Celebrities including Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Rihanna and the Obamas helped galleries achieve record-breaking visitor numbers

Grady's mother gave birth via caesarean section on April 16, 2018

Baby Monkey Born Using Frozen Testicular Tissue, Giving Hope for Infertile Childhood Cancer Survivors

Around 30 percent of pediatric cancer patients are rendered infertile by chemotherapy or radiation treatments

On April 16, the 1939 portrait will travel to a Swiss art lover's home for a 24-hour visit

For One Day Only, a Prized Picasso Will Decorate the Walls of a Lucky Swiss Art Fan’s Home

Hopefuls must submit an online application detailing how they would celebrate the singular opportunity by April 1

Around 20 percent of the time, the bears returned a playmate’s expression within one second of seeing it

Sun Bears Mimic Each Other’s Facial Expressions to Communicate

Previously, precise facial mimicry has only been observed in humans and gorillas

Researchers found that white individuals represented 97 percent of artists featured in the National Gallery of Art's permanent collection

Survey Finds White Men Dominate Collections of Major Art Museums

A comprehensive study reveals that 85 percent of artists featured in permanent collections are white, while 87 percent are men

"Super smeller" Joy Milne (left) poses alongside Perdita Barran, a co-author of the new study

How a Woman Who Can Smell Parkinson’s Disease Helped Scientists Create a New Early Diagnosis Method

Joy Milne first noticed a “sort of woody, musky odor” emanating from her husband some 12 years before he was diagnosed with the degenerative disorder

Underwater view of ship 17's hull

Wreck of Unusual Ship Described by Herodotus Recovered From Nile Delta

The Greek chronicler dedicated 23 lines of his Histories to the construction of a Nile cargo boat known by locals as a baris

Uhlenbeck's work on minimal surfaces was instrumental to the foundation of the mathematical field of geometric analysis

Karen Uhlenbeck Is the First Woman to Win Math’s Top Prize

The Abel Prize honoree was recognized for “the fundamental impact of her work on analysis, geometry and mathematical physics”

Honey gathered from urban beehives offers a surprisingly accurate measure of surrounding communities’ air quality

How Urban Beehives Can Help Researchers Detect Air Pollution

Trace elements found in honey may be able to lead researchers straight to the source of environmental contamination

Page 29 of 49